Swim team in default on contract with Fort Lauderdale

December 3, 2011|By Larry Barszewski, Staff writer

FORT LAUDERDALE — The director of the city's contracted swim team says the program at the Fort Lauderdale Aquatics Complex has grown into one of the 10 largest in the country, but that success hasn't stopped it from falling $130,000 behind in payments due the city.

Fort Lauderdale Aquatics has also failed to pay $19,500 it received from a YMCA diving event that was owed to the city for pool usage fees.

"They're not following the contract," city spokesman Chaz Adams said. "It requires them to provide the city with financial statements to support the payments they need to make to the city, and to make the payments. They have not been doing either."

City staff is recommending that commissioners on Tuesday cancel the current contract, which goes through November 2012, and approve a new contract that would go only through February. The organization would have to bring its payments up to date by the end of the year and give the city the required financial documents.

Staff would then review the program's finances so it could determine what changes should be recommended in a future contract.

"I have no issue with the city at all, it's just unaffordable," FLA director Duffy Dillon said about the contract. Dillon also said he could not afford the staff to put together the financial documents the city wants.

"If we can't support the terms of this contract, no one can. Lord knows we've tried," Dillon said in a letter to the city. "To date we have accumulated over $350,000 of long-term debt to cover our obligations to the city and overall annual losses, in order to remain viable."

The program's growth has been offset by the need to hire more coaches, he said. Dillon wants the city to reduce the amount of money the program owes and to eliminate many of the fees currently in its contract. His proposal would end the city's 22 percent cut of swim lesson and swim team fees, which produce about $50,000 annually for the city, and to lower the city's portion of the private lesson fees from 22 percent to 10 percent.

"In better economic times and under political duress, we agreed to pay more than we could afford to make the Aquatic Complex our home," Dillon wrote. The contract began in 2007 and has been renewed three times.

While concerned about the contract's being in default, city staff said it still thought it was in the city's best interest to continue the relationship with Fort Lauderdale Aquatics.

Dillon said the city is overlooking other income his program provides, including between $75,000 and $125,000 a year in parking fees at the aquatics complex. He said it is the only South Florida faciltiy that charges program participants for parking for practice or events.

The program currently has 250 children on the swim team, 200 adults on the masters team and more than 100 children in the learn-to-swim program, Dillon said.

Dillon, a two-time NCAA champion, was inducted into the Broward County Sports Hall of Fame in November.